developing right now, a live

look of capitol hill. the senate is about to go into session, with the default deadline getting dangerously close. and the house is gearing up for a symbolic vote of harry reid's proposal. thanks for being here of our extended coverage of the debt debate. the senate is expected to convene any minute, and we're anticipating a symbolic vote as i mentioned there in the house on senator reid's debt bill. legislation that's expected to get the political cold shoulder from the republicans. nbc's luke russert has the latest. >> reporter: good afternoon, richard. it's around 1:00 here on the west coast. the house has gaveled into session and essentially we are where we were this morning and last night. there is still no clear path for harry reid to garner the 60 votes he needs to file cloture on a debt limit extension plan.

right now it does not seem he has republican support. as far as negotiations go, we have spoke on the a gop aide who said look, right now it's motionless until harry reid can tell us what president obama will sign into law. that being said, there are some other folks who say that mitch mcconnell and harry reid had discussions yesterday, that their staffs are in communications in an attempt to throw things by the white house on what they would like to do. but there is no clear path except for harry reid trying to convince maybe 8, 10, 12 republican senators to come on board with a compromise, offering them a sweetener, specifically in this case, there is going to be a two-part extension to the debt limit and there would be some sort of trigger mechanism that republicans would like. that means in exchange, there

would be a guaranty of entitlement reform or else. what is the or else? that is where the negotiations are. but the real enemy is not republicans or democrats, it's the clock. as these negotiations continue to go on and there's no apparent solution, no compromise, it gets dangerously close to that tuesday deadline. what do i mean by that? tonight at 1:00 a.m. the reid can't get cloture, negotiations go through tomorrow, the earliest it gets to the house of representatives is tuesday. any compromise bill will have a mix of democrats and republicans. expect you could lose over 140 republicans, a large, large amount. it would be very tense to get there through by 11:59 tuesday, richard. >> one of the things that's been discussed by the lawmakers that we've had on msnbc this morning, they've been bringing up the 14th amendment. >> reporter: that is something

that a lot of democrats have mentioned in recent kays. the most powerful democrat to mention that is steny hoyer, essentially saying it would be unconstitutional to allow the nation to default for the first time in its history. the white house has pushed back hard, because they realize what fuels the folks on the right is this strict constitutional argument, tea partiers saying i'm going to fight for the constitution. if the president were to look like he was taking matters into his own hand and there was the constitutional argument, that's a headache the white house does not want to deal with, especially heading into an election year in 2012. >> luke russert there at the capitol, thank you is much. new word from president obama this morning on the debt crisis, as well unfolding on capitol hill. he said both sides are not that far apart and demanded compromise.

>> any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan. it must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people, not just one faction of one party. the time for putting party first is over. the time for compromise on behalf of the american people is now. >> joining me now is nbc's kristen welker. what's the mood like at the white house today as so much is happening around it? >> reporter: it's quite focused here at the white house. there are no events on the public schedule. meetings with senior officials are going on right now and officials say that the president is in contact with congressional leaders on the hill. he has his hands in this, trying to make sure that a compromise does get completed by that august 2nd deadline. one of the things that's driving this as luke just mentioned is the clock. this week, we had a close eye on the markets. we saw them dip and we got some

troubling economic news on friday, showing the economy grew only 1.3%. and then you have the credit agencies threatening to downgrade the credit of the united states. so there is a lot of pressure on everyone involved, because if this debt limit doesn't get increased in time, timothy geithner has warned we will default on our loans for the first time in history. if that happens, the blame will go all around from the white house to capitol hill. so everyone quite concerned trying to make sure this gets completed. >> kristen, talk to me about the 14th amendment, what's the discussion at the white house right now about that? >> reporter: yeah, this is something that's been discussed for quite some time here, and as you mentioned now, the pressure to do that is ramping up. the president himself said that he actually spoke to his legal

counsel about this, and they say they just don't think it's a winning argument. friday, i was speaking to white house officials about this and they said we don't think this is a path the president can pursue, in part because of the optics. for him to do this alone and without congress could be politically damaging in the future. so the white house really doesn't think that this is a viable option. they say this is something that has to be done with the help of congress. richard? >> kristen welker at the white house, thanks. just moments ago, the senate began its latest session on the debt crisis. that is the united states on the brink of default? joined now by senator from new hampshire. thank you for being here. >> good afternoon. >> can the senate create a bill that won't be dead on arrival at the house? >> i think we've got to do that. time is running out. everybody you talked to this morning has said that. we need to get in place a compromise, and that means

everybody has to give something up to come to an agreement. what i'm hearing from my constituents in new hampshire is they're willing to sacrifice, but they want to see some action in congress and they want to see a compromise. so i think we've got to do that and we've got to do it in a way that provides certainty in the business and the markets. what we saw was the worst week on wall street in over a year. i'm hearing from people who are concerned about the retirement accounts, small businesses who say they can't hire who are worried about whether they're going to have to lay people off. it is time for us to get this done, and to do it now for the good of the country. >> senator, stay with me. i just want to listen now to leader reid as he's speaking on the senate floor. >> unless they get policy concessions. they would never have been able to enact it through legislation. so they're going through the, as i understand on the house side,

an effort to vote on our legislation. setting up a 2/3 standard to get this done. recognizing, of course, mr. president i will outline here in a minute, that a filibuster at this late hour here in the senate, and when so much is at risk, is irresponsible. and to say it puts our economy at risk is an understatement. a majority vote for good enough for the speaker's proposal in the house, but republicans believe it isn't good enough for the senate today. rather than filibuster, i ask my republican colleagues to work with democrats to make our proposal better. we've offered a reasonable, rational way for republicans to help us avert a default. but let me tell you about the legislative issue. this legislation was written by democrats -- >> senator sheheen, we are listening to leader reid there. he was mentioning the

possibility of a filibuster. is that a real concern? >> well, it is. what we heard from our republican colleagues is that the vote tonight at 1:00 is going to be on the motion to proceed to the bill, and that they intend to filibuster that. so it a es going to take 60 votes to get it passed. if they had not been planning to filibuster, we could have gotten this proposal passed last night on a majority vote. we could now be negotiating with the house. so it's unfortunate that this is a hold-up at a time when the coin try is in such dire straits. >> what is that compromise that you were alluding to earlier? what will that look like as leader reid and mcconnell come together? >> well, you know, as governor, i did a lot of negotiating with the legislature in new hampshire that was republican and what i understood and what they understood is that when you negotiate, everybody gives something up.

i don't particularly like the proposal in front of the senate right now, because i thought it should be more come p comprehensive. but i understand that at this 11th hour, we have got to put aside our own preferences and do what's in the best interest of the country. what i want to see is our colleagues on the other side of the aisle be willing to do the same. >> so many are watching this process outside of washington, asking, wondering what is happening there. what would you say to those in the public, those viewers out there that look at this and basically are quite discontent with what's happening and that voice is growing louder every day. >> it is, they're frustrated and i share that frustration. it's hard for me to understand how we could be at this point, when most people who have looked at this issue understand the dire consequences that a default would have. it would raise interest rates, not just for the federal

government, but for people who have mortgage and car payments and credit cards and for those people who want to see us make cuts in spending at the federal level, it would increase the cost of borrowing in a way that would wipe out the savings that we would make for any cuts. so the consequences are really catastrophic and it's hard to understand why we can't sit down in a room and everybody come to an agreement. >> senator, thank you. >> thank you. no doubt the reputations on both sides of the aisle have taken a hit from this debt debacle. just how though will it affect president obama? when all is said and done, who will come out on top? that's helping drive the future of business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering

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we know that the investments here, however this plan is struck, there has to be fairness

and focusing on the biggest crisis of all, the jobs crisis. >> the debt ceiling debate is keeping politicians from focusing on rising unemployment. let's bring in "the washington post" david nokanora. what is the likelihood that mitch mcconnell gets a deal done with harry reid as the hours move forward? >> i think the message that you're hearing from the white house side is they're remaining confident that they trust harry reid to bring this home. right now, stakes are very high. it's deadlocked and there does not seem to be any movement toward that deal. but behind the scenes, we're being told the white house is working diligently to get their message across. their budget director is at capitol hill on a daily basis trying to hammer out some of the fine points of the legislation

that could be passed. that's where we are, and the white house has made clear this is something that congress has to figure out and then deliver them something that the president could sign. >> looking at that 1:00 a.m. vote that we expect to happen in about 12 hours here in the senate, key to that is the gop senators. senators such as scott brown, bob corker, that might be important in cobbling together those 60 votes. what do you know about what they are saying? >> frankly i think the leadership that's being asked to be in touch with those senators and really bring them around. i think that there's been a lot of talk that some of these senators are willing to maybe make that compromise. that's sort of the theme you're hearing. how they get there isn't clear. i think mitch mcconnell is clear here. he knows how to play the game very well. so i think over the next several hours, as we head into the night, that's going to be the critical time. >> so you see the democrats in

the senate. let's go across and will we see the same here with boehner doing that with pelosi? >> you would think so. right now i think it's up to the senate side to come -- deliver something that they can propose to the house and bring them home. you're going to have to see a real coming together of a lot of interesting dynamics, because you're going to have to have bipartisan votes and voting blocs together. what we're hearing from everybody involved is there's an all-channels, vice president biden and his staff has been talking to lawmakers in both houses and it doesn't look right now very promising, but there's still a lot of discussion. >> part of that work, if that were to happen, as we were talking about the house there, the question is will speaker boehner leave tea party

candidates in the cold for this next round. >> absolutely. as you say, they've driven a lot of this debate. they may be freshman, but they have a lot of say. we saw with the midterm elections, they were a powerful force and they've made a name here and brought this to the stalemate we're in, in some ways. what happens with that group going forward with the election next year, the white house obviously is very critical for them. there's not much that can be agreed upon except no lawmaker right now has come out looking good in this. you see poll numbers, congress and the president's side plummeting. so if this goes off the cliff on tuesday, it's going to get that much worse. so they need to bring this home. if either side expects any kind of public support going forward. >> everybody paying the price is what you're saying. david, thank you. the debt debate in washington is having ripple effects across the globe, including fears from the men and women in our armed forces over

their checks. will they come in august? admiral mike mullen is in afghanistan today. so what was said and what was asked? >> hi there, richard. the number one question was, will we will paid? and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff had this answer -- i actually don't know the answer to that question. i have confidence that at some point in time, whatever compensation you are owed, you will be given. obviously, this is probably not a question that admiral mike mullen expected to hear in afghanistan. this is his 15th trip to afghanistan, he made his way south to a very volatile area in afghanistan. so he was expecting questions, the fact that 10,000 troops will be going home by the end of the year, 28,000 by the end of next

year. but these soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines want to know will they be getting their paychecks. they're very worried about that, and it's saddening to think that on their list of boworries, rpg iegs and now will they be paid. >> they have very tight budgets. >> absolutely. some of these men and women are living paycheck to paycheck. they have fam less back home depends on these paychecks. some of these men and women who come to afghanistan volunteer because they get a slight boost in their salaries. right now they're wondering if it's worth it, because will their families get the paychecks. and those are families worrying for their loved ones and they're also worrying, will they be able

to pay for next week's groceries. the men and women here are worried about that, and they know they shouldn't be worrying about that in a war zone. >> atia, thank you so much live there in kabul. weeks of triple digit temperatures, combined with months of little raunfall, is turning texas into a dust bowl. it could mean billions in losses for the state. an update on that, next. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪

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the air campaign and the battle for libya is aiming at on-air targets now. nato warplanes disabled three television transmitters in tripoli to stop gadhafi from using tv as a means to threaten the libyan people and insite acts of violence against them. texas is experiencing one of the worst droughts since recordkeeping began there 116 years ago. and despite the promise or

wishful thinking of rain this weekend, tropical depression don did little to ease drought conditions in texas. janet shamlyian has more from houston for us. >> reporter: you know it's bad when people in the state are cheering for the tropical storm to come ashore and bring the much-needed rain that we ended up not getting from don. it would take something like 17 inches of rain in texas to get us back to normal. this is an epic drought. it is the driest nine months in state history. and it's affecting everything from the way people live day-to-day to agriculture. losses of which are topping billions. ranchers are taking their cattles to auction early because they can't afford to feed them. occasionally we get a brief rainfall like we did in houston earlier today. but it's not doing much damage -- or not doing much assistance to the parched ground we have all over the state of

texas. this is a serious situation. the state is blanketed in the most extreme drought. and it expends from arizona to florida and pushing north into kansas and colorado. so we are very hopeful that the hurricane season will bring us some moisture, but don just don't do it. richard, back to you. >> janet, thank you. now to a live look at the house right now, where members are gearing up to shoot down the senate democrat's plan to raise the debt ceiling in a symbolic vote. gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. uh-huh. jeff? right there. jeff! honey, i can't walk any faster. [ female announcer ] the great taste is clear.

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purina cat chow helps you [ son ] yay! well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. all right, we start with a live picture of the capitol. this as a symbolic vote is happening there in the house. the senate also is beginning its work right now. it is a busy day here in washington, d.c., as we watch

that. jackie kucinich is here with us. and erin mcpike. jackie, who is in charge of what's happening, what's your thought? >> who's in charge in the house? >> that's right, republican leadership in the house. >> right now, the tea party took control of that debate. there's no doubt about it. boehner had to add a balanced budget amendment in the 11th hour or a trigger that would allow for a vote, because he couldn't get the votes to pass his own bill this the house. so this was a victory for the tea party. but at the end of the day, they might -- we don't know what's going to happen, because it seems like they felt they made enough concessions as it is. so going forward, we'll see who wins the day. >> erin, how much influence do you think mitch mcconnell has on that debate as they try to

cobble together a compromise moving into the late hour tonight. >> quite a bit as far as mitch mcconnell is concerned, and he just sent a letter to majority leader reid that was signed by 43 senate republicans saying they don't think his plan does enough to cut spending. so mitch mcconnell does have quite an influence here. >> let's go to the democrats, jackie. we look at the democrats, who do you think will play the biggest role in making this happen in the end? >> leader reid is front and center right now trying to get enough votes to pass this. the one thing to vote about that letter, four republicans did not sign it, leaving reid three short of what he needs to pass that bill. we'll see if he can do it. some senate republicans are open to compromise at the end of the day, so they might have to drop the fact that he included savings from wars in his bill as a savings. so that's what we're looking at.

leader reid is front and center, but it could change back to the white house fairly easily. >> on that note there, erin, leader mcconnell here saying that he wants the president sitting at the table. is he basically saying i don't want to have to deal with reid here? >> well, right, but president obama has been working around the clock with these congressional leaders. but over the weekend, it has come out that president obama has said he's going to give speaker boehner some room so that he can negotiate with his own caucus. so president obama has been at the table. he's given news conference after news conference. president obama might have to get involved later this weekend, if it looks like this reid proposal is going to go down further. president obama is going to have to get back in and try to rangle up support. >> erin, any show of bipartisanship here from senate republicans as we talk about the senate to convince house republicans to do the same?

>> it's possible. but when you talk about house republicans, as jackie mentioned earlier, it's a very big freshman class, many of whom are tea party candidates and they have not been willing to negotiate or budge at all. so there could be some support from house republicans. but this whole battle shows very deep divisions in the republican party. >> jackie, as we get down to the wire, the tea party and their influence there in the house, is there a way here that speaker boehner can work around them? is there a way that the bill coming out of the senate can also alleviate or satisfy their needs? >> you know, i don't think so at this point. but there are a lot of things up in the air and i don't think the leaders know either. if they did, we would have a deal right now. we might end up with a situation where boehner is trying to corral democrats and system of

the more moderate members of his party to vote for a proposal. so we've got three days here and a lot of questions still unanswered. >> jackie, erin, thank you both very much. concern about the u.s. debt crisis is echoing across the globe, as well. leaders from europe to asia are keeping a close eye on the drama unfolding on capitol here, worrying about what impact a u.s. default or downgrade in their credit rating could have on their economies. so as they have concerns, as they have been rumored about throughout the world about a downgrade in the united states credit rating, have they taken any real action in other economies in the world to answer to that? >> hi there, richard. well, the imf said that spain is in the danger zone and there's an urgency to restructure, but

there's been hardly any room for anyone in europe to breathe since the greece bailout. in fans, they said it's going to turn from an economic crisis into a full-blown one. germany is insisting the u.s. owes it to the world to get this sorted as soon as possible. others are saying how this indicates the start of a decline and what this could mean. here in the uk, they're saying that these political wranglings, are placing the world's financial stability at real risk. >> as we look at these adjustments other countries might be making, those countries that have more risk or less risk, at this time, some are saying the united states, even with a down graded credit rating, is better than anywhere else in the world. >> china is the one coming forward and saying it's got the most to lose because it's the largest foreign holder of u.s. treasury. more than a trillion dollars worth. you know, we know it needs

americans to buy its exports. it's been saying the u.s. has been kidnapped by dangerous forces and this is irresponsible politics. the message is clear, the internal bickering needs to end, because so much is at stake for so many people around the world. >> tazeen, thank you very much, there in london. appreciate it. compromise will have to be part of any solution to bring spending cuts to washington, especially to satisfy the public. >> i'm the chair of the democratic national committee, and so obviously i care about the democratic agenda a lot and believe in it. but i know that my first responsibility is to say we have to make sure that we're responsible. and it's not always going to be my way. >> congressman chris van hollen joins me right now. thank you for your time. do you feel that there's enough responsibility amongst more

moderate members of the republican party and both chambers to come together now with democrats and get something done? >> well, i don't know about the senate. that's our big hope right now is you're going to have enough moderate republicans to put together a deal with harry reid, look at the compromised proposal he hammered out. in the house, you've got the very right wing tea party republicans are in charge. you've got the tail wagging the elephant. we saw that when they proposed the proposal their own speaker put on the floor and he had to go back to address those concerns. so hopefully we'll see something come out of the senate and harry reid's bill answers all the requests that republican colleagues put forward in terms of what they wanted to achieve. >> i was speaking earlier, asking the question about a way of satisfying the tea party supported candidates, who have had so much influence on speaker boehner's bill moving forward.

is there a bill that could come out of the senate to satisfy them or something that speaker boehner can do to surcome vent them? >> the ultimate solution is going to require house democrats and republicans who are willing to be independent thinkers and say no to the extreme position that the tea party has laid out, to come together for the good of the country. we cannot allow the united states to default on its obligations. that's going to require compromise. that's what harry reid's bill does. it hits the $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction our republican colleagues said they want. it lifts the cloud over the economy so we're not in the same fix six months down the road and protects medicare and social security. may believe our colleagues don't appreciate that, but that's an important part from the democratic perspective. >> so if the bill makes it to the house, do you think here,

congressman, there might be a possibility, do you see this as a possibility that speaker boehner might reach out to you and others? >> well, i would certainly hope so. i hope that we would be willing in the interest of the country and of our economy to reach across the aisle, because the proposal that he put on the floor the other day didn't get a single democratic vote. that's because it was so extreme, so far to the right. again, a part of their plan to end the medicare guaranty, slash medicaid, slash education, and yet protect the special interest tax breaks for oil companies and corporate jets. that's not where america is. hopefully he'll be willing to have responsible compromise. >> the house, you're voting right now. that show of vote what some people are calling, what voters might see, this vote on senator reid's bill which has not been passed in the senate but is happening right now, folks are

saying it's really needed right now based on no or little progress that we've seen to date. >> of course it's not needed. this is pure gamesmanship by republican colleagues. they control the house and decided to put harry reid's compromised bill on the agenda. i assume with the expectation they will vote it down. they use this procedure that says in order for it to pass, it needs a supermajority. in other words, they wouldn't let it pass if it got a majority vote. i think the american people are going to see straight through that one. again, harry reid's proposal meets all the criteria that republicans put on the table, and now that he's got a bill that does it, it's no good. it's just like the republicans in the house said no to their own speaker, just like they said no to the mcconnell proposal, which was the republican leader in the senate. and by the way, this proposal by harry reid, it also wraps into

it the proposal that senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate put forward. so harry reid has gone way beyond halfway in meeting the criteria that -- >> congressman, along that line, you're hearing some senate republicans are willing to deal right now. very quickly, are you also hearing the same in the house when it comes to getting something done here? >> well, we have not. that's what is so disappointing. we're going to have a vote in a very short time on the reid compromise proposal. i'm confident it will get a majority of the democratic votes, democrats are prepared to compromise in responsible way for the good of the country. i expect it to get very few republican votes. i hope there will be a signal a few of them are willing to compromise for the good of the country. that's what this bill is about. but instead, their leadership

has decided to bring it up for the intentional purpose of shooting down what is a good-faith compromise. >> congressman chris van hollen, thank you. >> thank you. >> with all the focus on the debt ceiling, what about jobs? and will the drama on the hill help or hurt unemployment? [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the volkswagen cc sport for just $289 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. ♪ (telephone ring. pick up) usa prime credit. my name ...peggy. you got problem? ggy? third time i've called, 's time i speak with a supervisor. supervisor is genius...i transfer. transfer! transfer! transfer! transfer!

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to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. welcome back to our extended coverage of the debt ceiling debate on this saturday. joining me now is congressman marlin stutsman of indiana. he's a member of the budget committee. congressman, a lot going on there. how is the vote going first of all? >> well, we're going to be voting on reid's proposal in the house here in about 45 minutes or so, and i don't anticipate there to be much support for it. after he passed speaker boehner's bill through the house yesterday and sent it over to the senate, there's a lot of back and forthright now. and to hopefully we'll have a little bit better idea what's going to happen by the end of

the day today. >> many voters and viewers will say why are we doing this right now? it's not going to be successful, so why go through this show boat? >> i think it's just process of elimination. that's what we're down to. we have two sides, two trains on one track that are coming towards each other. now we're trying to figure out what can we start throwing off here that's going to survive? and in's what the speaker and the leader have decided to have this vote on reid's proposal in the house to show the senate that there just is no support for reid's proposal in the house of representatives. >> congressman, you were leery of the boehner plan earlier in the week but in the end you did vote for it with a balanced budget amendment requirement in there, but it did not make it through the senate at the moment. would you will willing to support one without a balanced budget amendment? >> i've taken the strategy that either way, we have to get a balanced budget amendment to the

state. maybe we have a better chance of passing it if it's a stand alone bill, getting it through the house and -- >> break it out is what you're saying? >> exactly. sometimes that's the best way to get things done. others felt they needed to be tied together. maybe if we don't have them married together, let's at least have them walking down the aisle together to get to the point where we can send this back to the states. americans believe that a balanced budget should work for the federal government just like in their own household. >> just about every state in the union has a balanced budget requirement. so it sounds like you understand what's being thought at that level. but you said you were leery. where were you leery initially? >> us freshman came into congress focusing on the debt. think about it, we have a struggling economy, $14 trillion of debt, we have a deficit of $1.5 trillion, and we are focusing on cutting spending,

controlling spending, and fixing the problem here. we're never going to get our economy growing again if people are leery of investing, growing their company, creating jobs. i'm a small business owner from indiana. that's why i ran for this office is because i see washington as a real mess right now. that's what us freshman are focused on. so what has to happen in the boehner bill, i was leery because i wanted to see real cuts. this had to be dollar for dollar, no new taxes, and also one other thing i think speaker boehner has done a fantastic job at is no earmarks. i give speaker boehner a lot of credit. he's changing the culture in the house. now we have to spread it in washington. >> thank you very much, congressman. >> thank you. good to be with you. the debt crisis is threatening to wreak havoc on the u.s. economy on top of already discouraging news this week. u.s. stocks posting their biggest decline in a year.

the dow jones fell 537 points, just about 100 on friday alone. the gdp grew just 1.6% in the last year. and just under half a percent in the first quarter of this eric thompson is senior editor at the "atlantic." have we seen the effects of a possible downgrade here that cannot be reversed? >> i think you're seeing a lot of economists saying this isn't a jobless recovery any more. it's a recoveriless recovery. we thought the economy was growing around 2.5% in the last year. now we know it's growing closer to 0.8% in the last half year. economists were wrong. this is not a stable recovery that has joblessness. this is a recovery that has no growth. >> this credit rating downgrade

we've been talking about for quite some time is an indicator of what already left the train station here? >> right. it's important to say what are we debating when we are debating debt ceiling? we are talking about fiscal health. the key indicator is debt gdp ratio. the fact is we are not growing. it doesn't matter how small our deficits are. it doesn't matter how fast we borrow. we are not getting healthier. >> some are saying the debt gdp ratio is 1-1. japan is 2-1. that means we are not doing so badly here. >> japan is a slightly different case. japan is lucky because their citizens save a lot of money. it doesn't particularly matter what the credit rating agencies say to their external investors. most are internal, they are all japanese people in. the united states we have a much lower savings rate that. means we need credit ratings to show the international community we are trustworthy. >> thank you very much, derek

thompson. democratic senator sherrod brown joins me now. thank you for being with me. as we look at what's happening today on the hill, we have discussions happening in the senate, discussions happening in the house. are we going to get to some sort of compromise here? what is your thought? >> we have to. the house has been wasting time with message votes that send a message to their tea party supporters and their conservative supporters. the american people are angry, as they should be that, this hasn't been fixed. i think we will get to it in the senate today. we will continue, i hope my republican colleagues don't filibuster. let us vote on this. we have a good compromise, i think with a lot of language from senator mcconnell, the republican leader, senator reid's bill. the cuts are significant.

we raise the debt ceiling as they did 18 times in the reagan administration and we have ever since with every president. we need to start to focus on job creation. the elections were about the debt last fall, about spending. they were mostly about unemployment. 400,000 jobs lost in my state. mostly during those bush years, some during the last two years. we've obviously got to focus on job creation. that's the way to deal with this long term. >> some are saying the concern has been the focus on 2012. ohio a very important state which you hail from here. what do you say to those who are saying this is all about thinking about getting re-elected? >> i think it's all about playing to their political base. this isn't child's play. the united states of america never defaulted on its

obligations. there are people in this institution, especially in the house of representatives, especially the most conservative members that think it might be okay to default on our only gags. if we default on our obligations, if the u.s. government defaults, it means who knows what else happens with social security checks and pay for our service men and women overseas and food safety inspectors, airport safety? we know interest rates will go up. that will hurt everybody in this country. it will be a blemish on our international reputation. this is not games. this is not politics. we've got to raise the debt ceiling. keep us out of default the next 36 hours. anybody who gets in the way of that to score political points should be ashamed of themselves. >> senator brown, thanks for your time today. ilities. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪

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and the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. dreier: mr. sp got a live look on the house floor.

republican house is expected to overwhelmingly shoot this down in a symbolic vote. the senate also debating the reid bill. we'll have the latest developments and all of that in three. union handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪